-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [IPN] CPT Statement on E-Sign bill Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2000 00:52:50 -0500 (CDT) From: James Love <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: http://www.cptech.org To: undisclosed-recipients:; FMI: Jamie Love, [EMAIL PROTECTED], 202.387.8030, hm 703.522.4380 Vergil Bushnell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 202.387.8030 Today a consumer group criticized the new US law on electronic signatures. Jamie Love, Director of the Consumer Project on Technology, stated: "People should understand that this bill is about legal issues. It does not create any new technology. The bill was pushed to solve the problems of businesses, and not to protect consumers. The legislation will increase the risks of identity theft. According to the National Consumer Law Center, the bill places places new burdens on consumers to provide evidence in disputes over electronic transactions. "The E-sign Act increases the legal obligations on consumers who interact with busineses on the Internet and through other digital media. "The E-sign Act raises the legal status of agreements that are 'signed' using electronic technologies, including such authorizations as click-on buttons on web pages, as well as many other electronic authorizations, of varying degrees of security. On the one hand, it overrides other statutes and regulations, and declares as a general rule, that no contract or signature can be denied legal effect, solely on the grounds that it was in electronic form. On the other hand, it fails in important ways to guarantee that consumers will be protected from fraud or unfair business practices in a wide range of matters. "In general, electronic transactions may leave consumers more vulnerable to unauthorized use, compared to conventional transactions. Technology residing on a consumer's personal computer can hardly be expected to be shielded from malicious intrusions. Unlike a handwritten signature, if an electronic authorization is stolen or forged, the legitimate owner will be hard-pressed to prove that it was used fraudulently. The E-sign Act contains no provision to limit the liability of consumers victimized by fraudulent spending. "Congress rejected pleas from consumer groups that the e-sign bill include a provision to ensure that a contract cannot be altered once a consumer's digital signature is affixed. The Senate langauge on this was dropped from the bill that was signed by the President today. The risk is that consumers will be victimized by changes in contractual text, inadvertent or otherwise, eroding the consumer's ability to reproduce copies of digital contracts at a later date, or admit such documents as evidence. "The digital signature bill is likely to hurt consumers lacking access to the Internet, especially low-income consumers and minorities. The E-sign Act does allow the consumer the choice of receiving a contract in electronic or paper form. However, given the prevalence of adhesion contracts in business-to-consumer transactions, this 'choice' may very well be "take-it-or-leave it," or constrained by penalty fees for paper-based contracting, a practice not prohibited by the legislation. Other experts that have expressed opinions on the E-sign Act are: - Vergil Bushnell Consumer Project on Technology http://www.cptech.org/ecom 202.387.8030 [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Margot Saunders National Consumer Law Center 202-986-6060 -Frank Torres/ David Butler Consumers Union 202-462-6262 ======================================================= James Love, Director | http://www.cptech.org Consumer Project on Technology | mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] P.O. Box 19367 | voice: 1.202.387.8030 Washington, DC 20036 | fax: 1.202.234.5176 ======================================================= _______________________________________________ Info-policy-notes mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/info-policy-notes <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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